An AC service, a coil deep clean and a full deep clean are three different jobs at three different prices. Most people have no way of telling which one their unit needs, so they take the advice they are given and go along with it. This guide is how to work it out for yourself.
A customer wrote to us earlier this year about a problem with her AC. Her units had already been deep cleaned, she told us, the filters and coils were clean, and nothing had changed. She had bought the most thorough clean on the list, and it was never going to fix her fault.
At a glance
- AC service, AED 225 per unit. The routine job. Most working units need this and nothing more.
- Coil deep clean, from AED 750 per unit. A strip-down for a coil that is genuinely fouled. In a six-unit home, expect one or two units a year to need it.
- Duct cleaning, from AED 650 per unit. A separate job on the ductwork. Around 70% of homes need no ceiling work for it.
- Full deep clean, from AED 1,400 per unit. All three in one visit, and only worth it on a unit where all three are due.
- The question is which unit, not which package. If a unit is cooling well and the airflow is strong, the answer for that unit may be none of them.
How to tell which one your AC needs
You do not need to diagnose this yourself, but what you are noticing narrows it down a long way before anyone visits.
| What you are noticing | What it usually points to | What you would need |
|---|---|---|
| Cooling is fine, airflow is strong | Nothing wrong | Nothing, unless you are overdue an AC service |
| Air at the grill is cool but weak | Airflow is choked, by a blocked filter or a fouled coil | AC service, or a coil deep clean if the coil is fouled |
| Cooling has dropped off gradually over a season | Often a dirty coil | AC service first, then a coil deep clean if the coil check calls for it |
| Dust from the grills, or a musty smell on start-up | Dirt in the coil, the drain tray or the ducts | Coil deep clean or duct cleaning, sometimes both |
| The unit keeps dripping or leaking | A blocked drain tray, which often travels with a fouled coil | AC service, or a coil deep clean if the tray is badly blocked |
| Not cooling at all | A fault rather than dirt | AC repair |
The number to ask your technician for
The air coming out of the grill should measure roughly 13°C to 16°C on a healthy unit. If it is reading 20°C or above, the unit is not cooling as it should, and that is worth investigating before you buy any cleaning at all.
On a coil clean we carried out recently, the grill came out at 14°C with the room sitting at 22°C. That is what a unit should look like once the coil is doing its job again.
The cheapest way through all of this is to have someone look before you buy. Our inspection is free, and the quote comes before the work rather than after it.
What an AC service covers, and what it does not
An AC service is the routine job, and at AED 225 per unit it is the one most units need. The technician cleans the air filter, flushes the drain line, cleans the drain tray and the grills, and cleans the condenser unit outside.
The rest of the visit is checking rather than cleaning: the coil condition, the ductwork, the electrical components, the thermostat, the gas pressure, and the temperature of the air at the grill.
The coil is checked, not cleaned
A service does not include cleaning the coil. The coil is inspected, and its condition is reported to you. If it turns out to be heavily fouled, cleaning it is a separate job at a separate price, which is the next section of this guide.
What a coil deep clean actually is
A coil deep clean is a strip-down, and it looks nothing like a routine visit. It starts from AED 750 per unit and takes around four hours, or five to six where the ceiling has to be opened to reach the unit.
The area is sheeted in polythene, the covers come off the indoor unit, and the fan blower is dismantled and cleaned. The drain tray is deep cleaned, the coil itself is chemically cleaned with a spray and a pressure washer, the drain line is flushed, and the grill temperature is checked at the end.
This is a repair for a specific condition, not a yearly habit. It is the right job when a coil is thick with dust, has gone mouldy, when the drain tray has a jelly-like build-up in it, or when a unit keeps leaking water because the muck has nowhere to drain.
How many of your units will actually need it
In a home with six AC units, our technicians typically find one or two in a year that genuinely need the coil cleaned. The rest come through the routine service, get their coil checked, and are reported as fine.
That is the most useful thing on this page. The right question is not which package to buy for your home, it is which of your units needs what. Paying for a deep clean on all six when two of them need it is money you are not getting back.
What duct cleaning is, and why it is a separate job
Duct cleaning starts from AED 650 per unit and deals with the ductwork that carries air around your home, rather than with the unit that cools it. It is a different job on a different part of the system, which is why it carries its own price.
Duct cleaning is sometimes called a deep clean of the ducts, which is where the confusion starts, because a coil deep clean is a completely different job on a different part of the system. If someone has quoted you for a deep clean, it is worth asking plainly whether the price covers the unit, the ducts, or both.
Look at your grills before you agree to anything
Whether your ducts can be cleaned cheaply depends on the grills in your ceiling, and you can check this yourself in a minute.
- Normal grills. The slats move. These come off, the ducts are reachable behind them, and no ceiling work is needed. Around 70% of the homes we visit are like this.
- Linear grills. The narrow slot type set flush into the ceiling. To reach the ducts behind these, the ceiling has to be opened, and the duct itself has to be cut so the vacuum machine can go in. This is the other 30%.
That difference is the reason duct cleaning is priced from a starting figure rather than at one price. If yours are linear grills, we look first, tell you what access is needed, and quote the whole thing before anyone cuts anything.
The full deep clean, and when it is worth paying for
The full deep clean is the service, the ducts and the coil in one visit, from AED 1,400 per unit. Bought separately those three come to AED 1,625, so the bundle saves money when you were going to buy all three anyway.
That is the whole test. If a unit has a fouled coil and ducts that are due, the bundle is the cheaper route for that unit. If its coil was checked recently and reported as clean, you are paying for work it does not need, and the AED 225 service on its own is the better buy.
Note the words “per unit”. The bundle is priced one unit at a time, and so is the decision. A villa where two units need the full treatment and four need a service is a normal outcome, not a sign anyone is cutting corners.
When the answer is none of them
Cleaning fixes dirt. It will not restore a unit that has lost its gas, rescue a failing compressor, or make an undersized unit big enough for a room that has been extended. Our guide on a unit that runs but does not cool works through those.
Smells are the other one. If the smell arrives with the AC but the unit has already been cleaned, the cause is often a drain or a trap, and sometimes it is coming from the building rather than from your flat.
If a unit is cooling properly and the air at the grill is cool and strong, the useful answer may be that you do not need to buy anything for it this month.
What each one costs
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| AC service (filters, drain, electrics, gas pressure, coil check) | AED 225 per unit |
| AC duct cleaning | from AED 650 per unit |
| AC coil deep clean (strip-down, chemical clean, blower dismantled) | from AED 750 per unit |
| Full AC deep clean (service, ducts and coil in one visit) | from AED 1,400 per unit |
| AC repair | AED 190 per hour + parts |
Coil and duct prices start at “from” because some units are harder to reach. Where a ceiling needs to be opened, we check whether an access panel can be fitted, and if the ceiling cannot support one we close it back up. Access work is quoted before we start, never after.
If you are on a maintenance contract
The routine AC service is the visit your contract already pays for, and it happens on a schedule through the year. The coil deep clean is not a scheduled inclusion on any tier, because it is a found condition rather than a planned one.
When a technician finds a coil that needs it, you get a written quote and nothing happens until you approve it. Contract clients pay a reduced rate on that work, between 10 and 20 percent off depending on the tier. Labour on your callouts is included either way; parts and materials are billed separately at our standard rate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an AC service and a coil deep clean?
A service is the routine visit at AED 225 per unit: filters, drain line, drain tray, grills, the outdoor unit, and a set of checks including the coil condition and the gas pressure. A coil deep clean is a strip-down from AED 750 per unit, where the unit is opened, the blower is dismantled and the coil is chemically cleaned.
Does an AC service include cleaning the coil?
No. The coil is checked during a service and its condition is reported to you, but it is not cleaned. Cleaning the coil is a separate job with its own price, because it takes around four hours and involves opening the unit and dismantling the blower.
How often does an AC unit need a deep clean?
There is no fixed schedule for it. In a home with six units, our technicians typically find one or two in a year that genuinely need the coil cleaned, usually where the coil is heavily dusty or mouldy, the drain tray is blocked, or the unit keeps leaking. A unit that is serviced and reported as clean does not need one that year.
Do you have to cut the ceiling to clean AC ducts?
It depends on your grills. Where the grills have movable slats, the ducts can be reached without any ceiling work, and that covers around 70% of the homes we visit. Where they are the narrow linear type set flush into the ceiling, the ceiling has to be opened and the duct cut to fit the vacuum machine. We check and quote this before any work starts.
Is the full AC deep clean worth the money?
It is worth it when you were going to buy all three jobs anyway, because the bundle from AED 1,400 per unit is cheaper than the AED 1,625 the three cost separately. If your coil was recently checked and found clean, you would be paying for work your unit does not need.
Will a deep clean fix an AC that is not cooling?
Sometimes, when the cause is a blocked filter or a fouled coil choking the airflow. It will not help if the unit has lost its gas, if the compressor is failing, or if the unit is simply too small for the room. Those are repair questions, and a free inspection will tell you which one you are dealing with.
Is the coil deep clean included in a maintenance contract?
It is not included as a scheduled visit on any tier. It is carried out only when a technician identifies that the coil needs it, always with a written quote and your written approval first. Contract clients receive a discount of between 10 and 20 percent on that work depending on their tier.
Not sure which one your AC needs? Send us a message with what your unit is doing and how many units you have, and we will point you to the right one. Call 800 FIXO (3496) or WhatsApp us.
Prices reflect our standard ad-hoc rates as of July 2026 and are reviewed periodically. Labour on contract callouts is included; parts and materials are billed separately at our standard rate with your approval before we fit them. Details in the opening scene are drawn from a real WhatsApp exchange; the customer is not identified.
